Chapter Text
The ball slammed to the ground in front of them and they watched the other team attempt to receive. The opposing team’s hands squished together as the ball devastatingly touched the ground only inches away. On the other side of the net, the two of them recovered from their near-perfect attack.
For one tiny second, neither team was fully aware of what just occurred. Then, simultaneously, a wave of realization washed over each member and emotions overtook them.
25 - 23.
Karasuno made it to the finals.
Kageyama and Hinata, still perfectly in synch, pumped their fists at the exact same time, yelling unintelligible expressions of excitement. Kageyama glanced over and saw his facial expression mirrored in Hinata’s. Both of their mouths were open, their eyes scrunched, and an absolute crazed look overcame them.
As their gaze met, Kageyama couldn’t help but feel like they were the only two people on the planet. Standing on the very tip of the world, they were the Kings of their very own universe. Kageyama also recognized his thoughts in moments like these were as incomprehensible as his yells. But one thing he knew for certain was this feeling was unlike any other. It didn’t matter how many wins he and Hinata faced; they would always be undeniably amazing.
The two of them relished in their protagonist feeling for what felt like forever. But reality crashed into them quite literally as their teammates started tackling them in hugs. Kageyama found himself on top of Hinata for a second, immediately pulled away by Yamaguchi. Hinata and Kageyama’s gazes were unceremoniously ripped apart, the pair celebrating their win with other members of the team.
Hinata gave Coach Ukai a giant double-high five; Kageyama gave Yachi a hug that overflowed with happiness. The crowed cheered loudly, stomped their feet, knocked the cheering sticks together. Teammates slapped hands on their upper backs, ruffled their hair. But none of it—not one part—could compare to that fleeting moment where it felt like just the two of them, ruling the entire world.
_____
At the bottom of the hotel stairs, Hinata knelt down to re-tie his sneakers. The team sobered up from their exciting win earlier and they were starting to feel the pressure of tomorrow. It was the final game of Nationals. The final game of the third year’s high school career.
Hinata was antsy—he couldn’t sit still, much less lie on his cot waiting for sleep that would never come. Instead, he decided to go on a run. Hence his presence in the hotel lobby, tying his shoes.
“Hinata!” A voice called from a few feet away. Hinata jumped in shock and looked up to find Yamaguchi with Yachi, both looking very annoyed to see him there.
“What, exactly, do you think you’re doing?” Yamaguchi asked. “Go back to bed.”
“I can’t sleep. You can’t tell me what to do,” Hinata argued.
“I’m your captain.”
Hinata had no response for this. Luckily, he was saved by the bell—if a bell sounds like almost 6 feet of surly setter racing down the stairs.
“I’m going with him,” Kageyama said matter-of-factly, brushing past Hinata and already starting his pre-run stretches.
“Are you serious?” Yamaguchi asked exasperatedly, looking like he was absolutely so done with all of their crap.
“It’s either we annoy and wake up everyone else by our restlessness or go on a run,” Kageyama told the annoyed-looking captain and manager.
“Fine,” Yachi sighed. “Just don’t get lost.”
“We won’t!” Hinata huffed, now also participating in pre-run stretches.
“And don’t over-exert yourself!” Yamaguchi called as the black-and-orange duo jogged out the door.
“Race to the far corner?” Kageyama asked Hinata as the door closed behind them.
“Kage—” Yamaguchi yelled, but he was far too late, the two boys had already sprinted halfway across the street, fully consumed in their quest to win.
The two boys stood on the far corner doubled over, hands on their knees, gasping for breath. The scene was perfectly familiar; they had done this probably hundreds of times before.
“I…beat…you…” Kageyama declared between breaths.
“Our hands…touched the pole…at the same fucking time…” Hinata huffed back.
“At least I’m not breathing as hard as you,” Kageyama argued.
“Do you see yourself?!”
“I see your complete inability to control your breathing.”
“You’re still gasping for air, Mr. Lack-of-Stamina,” Hinata retorted, and the two of them started slowly walking around the area.
“No I’m not, dumbass.”
“So uncreative.”
“Stupid dumbass.”
Hinata couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as they wandered aimlessly down an alleyway. If he had a dollar—no, a penny—for every time Kageyama called him a dumbass, he’d be rich as fuck.
“I don’t think it’ll ever get old,” Hinata mused.
“What?”
“Winning against you. It’s the best feeling.”
Hinata knew he was provoking Kageyama, but he didn’t really care. Three years in, he was no longer scared of Kageyama (except when he made that creepy smile face). Now, he has a morbid appreciation for the way he can make Kageyama’s face scrunch up and limit his vocabulary exclusively to “dumbass.”
“I won, dumbass,” Kageyama fumed, stepping closer to Hinata.
“You’re delusional.”
Their faces are close now; the air between them charged with tension. It was reminiscent of the energy that flows between them when they win a match, Hinata thought fleetingly.
“You’re delusional. That’s definitely not the best feeling,” Kageyama’s voice was low.
Hinata somehow knew what Kageyama was going to say before he even said it.
“Winning with you is the best feeling.”
A wave of nostalgia overtook the two of them as flashes of the past three years flew through their minds. Together, they’ve experienced so many late practices, silly arguments, extreme nerves before games. They’ve had “study” sessions where they actually just watched Naurto. (After this they were reprimanded by Yachi, their pseudo-tutor). They’ve spied on opposing school’s practices about 7 times (and got caught 5 times). They’ve fallen asleep on the bus together, not caring if their heads slumped into each other’s shoulders because they were so exhausted.
Not to mention their near-death experiences in Saeko’s Hellish car ride, almost choking on foods, and the few horrifying times when Takeda got angry. Even on days they didn’t have volleyball, they were itching to meet up, to see each other and practice. For three years they’ve been essentially attached at the hip and now…it was uncertain.
“You know,” Hinata said after a long, heavy moment of silence. “Tomorrow might be our last time—”
“Don’t say that,” Kageyama almost-whispered.
“I think you’re the best partner I’ll ever have.”
Kageyama hummed in response, unable to find the words to express that absolutely nobody’s partnership could compare to Hinata. Instead, he closed the inch between their faces and did something he was always curious to do—kiss Hinata’s mouth.
Hinata didn’t move for a millisecond due to shock, but almost immediately he melted into the kiss. For three years the tension between them has pushed them closer and closer. Finally, it seemed to have snapped, and Hinata could not be more satisfied.
Kageyama pulled away after a quick second.
“I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have,” he muttered, a blush engulfing his face.
“You’re a dumbass,” Hinata said as he stood on his tip-toes, grabbed the back of Kageyama’s head, and pulled him back down for a kiss.
The two of them were truly very in synch, even off of the court. So the kiss simultaneously felt new and like they’ve done it a thousand times before. They relaxed into each other, letting the built-up tension settle into a perfect kiss.
They separated when they heard a clang of some sort from a few blocks over, reminding them they were, in fact, in the middle of Tokyo right now. They looked at each other for a good five seconds, unable to adequately form words.
“I—er,” Kageyama looked about as red as a tomato.
“We were excited about the win earlier,” Hinata supplied for both of them, always a bit better at expressing feelings. “And we’re nervous about tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Kageyama agreed. “I just—I liked that.”
He ran a hand across Hinata’s bright red hair.
“YamaYama-kun,” Hinata said softly. He wanted to kiss Kageyama again. He really, really did. But he felt like he shouldn’t, at least not before their final game, and especially not while their post-school plans remained uncertain.
Hinata knew it was in both him and Kageyama’s nature to give 110% to everything they did. Except perhaps studying. So if they entered this, whatever this may be, it would become all-consuming. And everything was so up-in-the-air right now.
“How about this,” Hinata started, a hand still on Kageyama’s arm. “If we win tomorrow, we’ll definitely do this again. It’ll be like…a celebration. If we lose, we chalk it up to just being high on nerves and forget about it. Never talk about it again.”
“I’d like that,” Kageyama agreed. Kageyama was similarly hesitant about this—whatever this was. Whatever he felt for Hinata already occupied way too much of his brainpower. It seemed only right to let the Volleyball Gods decide whether it should occupy more.
They kissed again, briefly, before making their way back to the hotel.
_____
Karasuno lost in the finals against Itachiyama, 3 - 2 .
_____
They stood in the empty school court, watching the last volleyball bounce and echo on the opposite side of the net. It was high school graduation and although they still had their diplomas and gowns, the two of them silently agreed to make one last trip to the gym.
Kageyama swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. He was decidedly not sentimental, so why was this getting him worked up?
“Are you really going to Brazil?” He blurted out. The two of them hadn’t spoken more than a few words in the last twenty minutes.
“Yes, I am,” Hinata said. “It’s how I’m going to improve.”
Kageyama nodded. He couldn’t argue with that. Of all people, he knew the best how much Hinata wanted to strive for improvement, for perfection. It just kinda, well, sucked that he was going to some other country.
Most of the time, Hinata was excited to go to Brazil. He’s always enjoyed challenges and new experiences, so this fit the bill perfectly. But sometimes, like in this moment, he felt dread. He wouldn’t dare let that stop him though. One measly little kiss—which hasn’t been discussed since that night, as promised—wasn’t going to hold him back from making important decisions about his future. And nothing will stop him from fulfilling his goal from four years ago; that one day, he would truly beat Kageyama.
“I’ll come back, don't worry, and I’ll beat your ass,” Hinata declared. “That’s a promise.”
Kageyama laughed. “I’m not worried. I’ll be here, getting better and better, to make sure you never fulfill that promise.”
They looked at each other, smug smiles dancing on both their faces.
“Dumbass!” Kageyama punctuated his statement.
“Okay, Stupidyama.”
Kageyama reached out to playfully jostle Hinata’s head, but instead he let his arm fall. He cleared his throat and reached into his bag.
“I saw this and got it for you,” Kageyama said, throwing a milk-carton-shaped phone case in Hinata’s direction. “Thought it could remind you of how much better I am, and always will be.”
Hinata tried to repress a blush. “I got this for you,” he said, holding up his middle finger and flashing a shit-eating grin.
“Screw you!”
“Just kidding. I got this for ya,” Hinata said, handing him a picture of the two of them, Tsukkishima, Yamaguchi, and Yachi that had doodles all over it. There was a crown over Kageyama’s head. “Natsu-chan has developed this annoying habit where she gets sharpies and draws over all of my pictures. But I thought it was fitting. You can put it at your desk to remind yourself that I will always be better.”
Kageyama clutched the picture with his hands. “You’re so sentimental it’s gross.”
“You just gave me a milk carton phone case because you genuinely like drinking milk. Who’s the gross one here?”
“Whatever, idiot.”
Hinata didn’t feel the surge of pride that he usually felt when he won an argument against Kageyama. This time, he just felt weirdly nostalgic.
“The gym is closing!” A school worker yelled from the depths of the field house.
Hinata and Kageyama both looked in that direction, then back at each other.
“See ya later, Kageyama!”
“Yeah. See you later.”
“And hurry up and cut your hair. You look like a bush.”
“I was just gonna do that, okay!? Geez.”